CHARLESTON, W.Va. (WCHS, WVAH)

Two Kanawha County student-athletes are being recognized for their hard work in the classroom and in their respective sports.

Mary Lyle Smith has been selected as the Todd Judy Ford Scholar Athlete for George Washington High School, and Anna Lantz was chosen for the same honor for Huntington High School.

George Washington and Huntington were slated to play Friday, Sept. 18, in a Par Mar Friday Night Rivals Sponsored by Rallys football matchup, but the game was canceled. Kanawha County was designated as orange on the state county alert system map and could not participate in sports competitions that week.

Mary competes in soccer and basketball and in her freshman year, played lacrosse. Of the three, she particularly enjoys soccer a sport she has been playing since she was in third grade.

With soccer, it definitely began when all my friends played soccer. My family is pretty athletic. My dad and my brother both played college sports. That was more of a social thing for me when I was younger, but I got more serious about it when I joined the travel team, became more accustomed to my position and started learning more about it, Mary said. With basketball, I think it was more of a seasonal sport that I could play in the winter and stay in shape, but then I grew to really love basketball as well.

Mary said both games have taught her a lot about self-discipline.

Just having to be at every single practice and put forth my best effort even sometimes putting in hours on top of that to try to reach my full potential and reach my goals, she said.

Her drive also shows in her school work. She has a grade point average of 4.77. While she acknowledges it was difficult juggling her school work with sports, her coaches always reminded her that academics should always come before athletics.

The George Washington senior isnt sure what college or university she will end up at, but she does know she wants to major in exercise science, specifically in sports medicine.

Meanwhile, Huntington High School senior Anna Lantz competes in volleyball. She hits the court with the same focus and determination she does with her schoolwork. Lantz is a senior and maintains a GPA of 5.0.

She loves the team sport - ever since she began playing volleyball in middle school.

I honestly traveled to so many places I would never have gone to. Ive done so many different things. And you really learn whats important to yourself when youre doing this, Lantz said. Because, with volleyball taking up so much time in your life, you decide whats important to you. You decide what youre going to spend time on.

Lantz has only one class left to take in her senior year because she began taking Advanced Placement courses in her sophomore year and pushed in her junior year to take all AP or dual credit courses. She opted this year to go virtual when school started Sept. 8.

It is rough, but you have to have good time management. You do your schoolwork at school and whenever you have time, to do homework in-between that, because you just treat homework like its a job. You do it, lets say 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. You do nothing else in-between. You dont get on your phone or television, Lantz said.

Lantz plans to major in biology in college and then advancing to medical school school to become a psychiatrist.

Read the original:
George Washington, Huntington high school students named as Scholar Athletes of the Week - WCHS-TV8